Norway in
the News

In Stavanger, a quaint, seaside city on Norway’s coast, a local newspaper publishes a series called "The Oil Kids" that reports on the lifestyles of wealthy second-generation beneficiaries of Norway’s offshore oil riches. “If you compare to our parents or grandparents which built this country, I think we’re a little bit spoiled," admits Bjorn Knudsen, whose father worked for a large North Sea ...

Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the country's collective bank account now valued at $1 trillion and built from off-shore oil reserves, is often held up as a prime example of how such funds can succeed.The usual rule: make prudent investments, stick to them, be transparent and watch the money grow exponentially.But Norway's Government Pension Fund, as it is formally called, is only one of an ...

Norway and Russia join forces in Arctic response drill Though relations between the governments are strained, rescue centers from the two countries this summer will hold a joint Barents Sea exercise to test search-and-rescue and oil-spill response capabilities. March 23, 2015

China has imposed new restrictions on imports of Norwegian salmon citing fears of a fish virus, Norwegian authorities said on Monday. As of Monday, Beijing has banned imports of whole salmon from three Norwegian regions amid concerns they carry infectious salmon anaemia (ISA). For salmon from other regions of the Scandinavian country, Chinese authorities have imposed stricter controls aimed at ...

Norway's financial supervisory authority proposed Tuesday to tighten mortgage lending rules in a bid to curb record-high household debt and housing prices, which it said threatened the oil-rich economy. Riding a wave of strong economic growth fuelled by the country's sizeable oil revenues and low interest rates, Norwegian household debt has soared to a new record at 2.3 times annual disposable ...

The nation may pay about 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) for emission cuts in European Union nations, or if that negotiation fails, buy permits elsewhere under a planned global climate deal. Norway currently expects its own greenhouse gas levels to be about the same in 15 years, so will meet its 40 percent reduction goal by paying for curbs abroad. China, the biggest polluter, plans a national ...

The bonds, which are mostly high-yield, have been pummeled as oil prices slumped last year, driving the yield spread investors demand versus benchmarks wider. Now, some investors are coming back, and the DNB High Yield Norway Total Return Index has risen 5 percent from a 15-month low in February. Oil-related debt spreads are three to four times wider than six to nine months ago “and then you get ...